WAYZATA — The Brainerd Warriors dance team won the kick competition and finished fifth in jazz during Saturday’s 19-team Wayzata Invite.

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This after winning the Central Lakes Conference jazz competition and finishing second in the kick.

“On Friday night at CLC (the girls) had not executed their kick dance as well as they knew they would need to in Wayzata,” said Brainerd head coach Cindy Clough. “The team did not dance until 2:45, so they spent most of the day fine tuning various aspects of the routine. We watched the film and worked on weak sections. Coaches drilled sections of the routine. The worry was that they would look tired after competing Friday night and drilling all day, but that was not the case. The team showed up to win. They really brought it to the floor.”

Brainerd scored a 424 to top second-place St. Cloud Tech by 5 points. Brainerd scored a 125 on kicks, 81 on execution, 90 on choreography and 43 on routine effectiveness.

“Days like this don’t happen that often,” said Clough. “I felt pretty confident that we would win after watching the performance. I knew that Wayzata would be up there, so when they were announced third, I thought we had it. Tech took 2nd and they were great, but I thought we would win over them, but there is always that doubt, as you never know what the judges are going to do.”

In Jazz, Brainerd scored a 420. Wayzata won the competition with 466 points.

Brainerd scored a 123 on jazz skills, 78 on execution, 89 on choreography, 84 on difficulty and 45 on routine effectiveness.

“Jazz was equally as exciting,” said Clough. “They had a great performance. Possibly not quite as strong as at CLC the night before. Some parts were better on Friday and some better Saturday. Our big turn section was cleaner at Wayzata and our emotion was strong. The kids really gave all they could. We have never placed this high in this meet. Last year, we were around ninth. There are so many strong teams there.

“Our hope was to place in the top seven. They were giving seven awards and we just wanted to hear our name called at this meet. When they announced seventh, then sixth, we were feeling we would not make it again this year.“

Brainerd topped all of the section opponents that were at the meet and also beat Eden Prairie, who Brainerd has never beaten in Jazz.

The section competition is Feb. 2.

“I know everyone in our section will be working doubly as hard to come out ahead, so we will make sure we do not let our guard down,” said Clough. “The disadvantage of coming out on top three meets in a row, is that we could get too comfortable and we just do not want to do that. That’s when you can get blind sided. So we definitely will not let our guard down. The flip side of winning this many in a row is that we will be confident. Our jazz kids have struggled with believing they are as good as they are. So it will help us with confidence.”

I've worked at the Brainerd Dispatch with various duties since Dec. 7, 1983. Starting off as an Ad Designer and currently Director of Audience Development. The Dispatch has been an interesting and challenging place to work. I'm fortunate to have made many friends, both co-workers and customers.